This episode features:

-How do people behave differently when they are high vs low status?

-How did human social status evolve?

-Should you try to dampen your desire for status?

-Are EAs too credential-focused?

-Is publishing in academic journals overrated?

-Can you get more done by working alone than by starting an organization?

-What causes groups to splinter?

-How has effective altruism “professionalized?” What are the upsides and downsides of this trend?

Full transcript

-References-

Apply Psychology:

Anderson, C., Hildreth, J. A. D., & Howland, L. (2015). Is the desire for status a fundamental human motive? A review of the empirical literature. Psychological Bulletin, 141(3), 574.

Cheng, J. T., Tracy, J. L., & Anderson, C. (Eds.). (2014). The psychology of social status. New York, NY: Springer.

Puts, D. A. (2010). Beauty and the beast: Mechanisms of sexual selection in humans. Evolution and human behavior, 31(3), 157-175. 

Solnick, S. J., & Hemenway, D. (1998). Is more always better?: A survey on positional concerns. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 37(3), 373-383.

Celebrating failed projects

Estimating readership of different EA/LW writings (EA Forum comment)

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